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I found no surprises in the Kinsey Report. The good doctor's clinical notes were old hat to me. [...] I've had many momentary love affairs. A lot of these impromptu romances have been climaxed in a fashion not generally condoned. I go into them impulsively. I scorn any notion of their permanence. I forget the fever associated with them when a new interest presents itself.

This was one hell of a woman!!! It would have been such a pleasure to know her. Outrageous and then even more outrageous were her everyday actions. There is no one celebrity now who even comes close to Tallulah Bankhead.

When introduced to IRVING THALBERG at a party that he & his actress wife NORMA SHEARER were hosting at their Santa Monica Beach home, BANKHEAD' opening line was, "Dahling how does one get laid in this dreadful town ? "

Another pip from her mouth was once when TALLULAH was in a gathering the subject came up about a rape case in the current newspapers, " You know dahlings I was raped once when I was all of 11. Right in the driveway mind you. It was a terrible experience as we had all that gravel you know.... "

In the 1930s she suffered such an advance state of (a) venereal disease that she had to have a hysterectomy. Now the press knew why she had gone under the knife but they 'cleaned it up' for print. A bunch of them I think were waiting for her when she was released from the hospital weighing all of 75 pounds. BANKHEAD made the following statement: " Do not believe for an instant that this has taught me a thing ! "

You know that her father was the Speaker For The House (Of Representatives). He tried to use his clout to help get his daughter the part of Scarlett O'Hara. He damn near succeeded too; TALLULAH was oine of the top contenders for the coveted role, though frankly in her late 30s, she was too damn old ! (PAULETTE GODDARD came closest to getting the part, but the fact that she was openly living with CHARLIE CHAPLIN without a marriage license hurt her chances.)

TALLULAH' best friend was character actress ESTELLE WINWOOD. WINWOOD who had small parts in THE MISFITS & THE PRODUCERS (" Hold me , touch me ") lived to be 102, a good 35 years more than had her best friend TALULLAH.

She'd always faired far better on the stage than she had in HOLLYWOOD. One of her last play roles was in the TENNESSEE WILLIAMS' stinker THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE. Cast in the play alongside her was TAB HUNTER. He went to her dressing room one day to discuss something or other and when he walked in TALLULAH (then over 60) was standing there stark naked. HUNTER' jaw dropped. TALLULAH looked over and inquired, " What's the matter dahling, never seen a natural blondbefore? " The play was later made into the TAYLOR-BURTON equally stinky movie BOOM .

TALLULAH is buried over on our Eastern Shore. My aunt lives not far from there, so I went to the church cemetery once to see BANKHEAD' grave. Very simple, blended right in with the others.

TALLULAH at age 23

BANKHEAD in a portraitfor the stage play ofLILLIAN HELLMAN'THE LITTLE FOXES(1940).

BANKHEAD with a load of 'Drag Queens'at FINOCCHIO' in San Francisco 1964.

I posted this in the Estelle Winwood thread a while ago, but thought I would insert it here as well:

Estelle Winwood was touring in a play with her friend, Tallulah Bankhead. In the middle of a performance, a prop telephone malfunctioned and started to ring. Tallulah ad libbed to Estelle, "Aren't you going to get that?". Estelle glared at Tallulah, picked up the phone, and handing the receiver to Tallulah said, "It's for you."

I never heard that one. You'd have to be a real lesbian to do Hattie McDaniel.

That information first came to light (for we mere mortals) in Ken Anger'sHOLLYWOOD BABYLON; I tend to have doubts though about some of what Anger wrote as I have found him to be one who is big on embellishing.

I read a book on TALLU a while back. Loads of funny as hell anecdotes about her life & times. Trying to remember who' political rally she was attending; I'm fairly sure that it was one for ADLAI STEVENSON sometime in '56.

Anyway, TALLULAH was scheduled to be a guest speaker. About 10 minutes before she was to speak she suddenly realized that she had to get to get to the bathroom, like NOW ! She dashed to the ladies room; went into a stall & did her business. When she went to get some toilet paper, she found that it was EMPTY. She could see by a pair of pumps that there was a woman sitting in the stall next to her:"Excuse me dahling, any chance that you could pass me some toilet paper ?," inquired TALLU."I'm sorry, there's none (here)," came the reply from the next stall."Oh damn. How about passing me some KLeeNex then dahling ?" continued TALLU "Madam, I don't have any........," came the answer from the lady next stall."Well then dahling, any chance that you have (2) Fives for a Ten ?," asked the frustrated TALLULAH

KELT' HOME FOR WAYWARD YOUTH- Helping Young Men To Turn Around For Over Twenty Years !

The young film ingenue, Tallulah Bankhead, was fresh on the scene and was being given a coming out party in New York to intoduce her to industry types and the like. Chico was invited, but was told by the Marx Brothers' manager that she was a delicate, very classy southern belle and urged him to be on his best behavior around her. Chico basically said, "Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it."

On the night of the party, he introduced himself to her, and Tallulah, excited to meet one of the Marx Brothers, who were huge stars at the time, was very gracious, charming and demure. Chico spent the next few minutes chatting her up, remarking occasionally on the young starlet's remarkable beauty, with each comment more forward than the last, until finally he became bold enough to simply tell her, "Y'know, I'd really like to fuck you." Miss Bankhead, laughing and batting her eyelashes, said, "And so you shall, you dear old-fashioned boy!"

Queen of the one liners,..at a party some one detected a fowl smell and proclaimed''Tallulah did you fart?"she exclaimed''why dahling yes..you don't think I smell like this ALL the time,do you ? ''...LOL,got to luv her quick wit.

Another pip from her mouth was once when TALLULAH was in a gathering the subject came up about a rape case in the current newspapers, " You know dahlings I was raped once when I was all of 11. Right in the driveway mind you. It was a terrible experience as we had all that gravel you know.... !

That made me laugh all day long at work!! I told the story to several people and they laughed too!!!

Originally Posted by leevancleef

WOW!
That house is really beautiful. Is it still standing today?
You know the "Bankhead HWY" that runs across the Southern U.S. was named after her father?

That made me laugh all day long at work!! I told the story to several people and they laughed too!!!

WOW!
That house is really beautiful. Is it still standing today?
You know the "Bankhead HWY" that runs across the Southern U.S. was named after her father?

I used to work in Jasper, Alabama so I drove that hwy to work every day...The old Bankhead ancestral home is in Jasper, and is quite imposing...I would drive past it occaisionally and wonder what mischief the young Tallulah must have gotten into there...

THANK THANK YOU for posting this thread about a REAL movie star! its refreshing to come to FAD and actually find something written about a movie star anymore! i adored tallulah, the ultimate nut! thanks again! in fact dahlings, i wish someone would make a new category for this forum and entitle it 'your current whinge' ........

Does anyone remember the radio show she hosted called "The Big Show". It was radio's last gasp of a fight before television took over. It was a pretty good show.

She was really funny on that. There's one episode where she's talking to Judy Holliday and cannot direct the conversation away from men. It's hilarious. She was the perfect host for a show that was overblown from the beginning.

I just read a Lucille Ball biography and there's a great passage about Tallulah's guest appearance either on I Love Lucy or on one of her and Desi's christmas specials. I can't remember the specifics, but apparently she took off her clothes in rehearsal. Lucy (not famous for her patience)had already had it with her because of her antics in previous rehearsals. Apparently her actual performance went off with out a hitch. Wouldn't you have loved to be a fly on the wall at Desilu that day?

While filming "Lifeboat," Alfred Hitchcock had to re-shoot some scenes from the vantage point of the interior of the boat when he discovered that Tallulah wasn't wearing panties. He remarked, "I didn't know if it was a situation for costuming or a hair dresser."

While filming "Lifeboat," Alfred Hitchcock had to re-shoot some scenes from the vantage point of the interior of the boat when he discovered that Tallulah wasn't wearing panties. He remarked, "I didn't know if it was a situation for costuming or a hair dresser."

I'm reading a book called "forbidden lovers" by Axel Madsen and it's said in there Tallulah was part of the "hollywood sewing circle" i.e closeted lesbian actresses. It's reported in the book her affair with Hattie McDaniel also.

How bizaare.. A friend of mine lives in Chestertown, and she took me to see her grave.. I didn't know who she was, but my (older) husband did.. I think we have a picture of her grave stone..I'll try to upload it ASAP.